Bob Dylan  

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and artist who has been influential in popular music and culture for over five decades. He started his career as a folk musician but later moved towards rock and roll. His early songs, such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'," became anthems for social movements like civil rights and anti-war protests. Dylan's six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone" is considered to have radically altered the parameters of popular music in 1965, attracting criticism from others in the folk movement due to its use of electric instruments. Dylan's lyrics incorporate various political, social, philosophical, and literary influences, defying existing pop music conventions and appealing to the counterculture. He was initially inspired by artists like Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, Hank Williams, Buddy Holly, and Little Richard. Over his career, Dylan has explored numerous genres in American song, including folk, blues, country, gospel, rock, jazz, swing, English, Scottish, Irish, and more. He performs with guitar, keyboards, harmonica, and is backed by a changing line-up of musicians. Dylan's accomplishments as a recording artist and performer have been central to his career, but his greatest contribution is considered to be his songwriting. Since 1994, he has published three books of drawings and paintings, and his work has been exhibited in major art galleries. Dylan has received numerous awards over the years, including Grammy, Golden Globe, Academy Awards, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Songwriters Hall of Fame, as well as a special citation from the Pulitzer Prize jury in 2008 for his profound impact on popular music and American culture. In May 2012, Dylan received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.